"Thus says the LORD, 'Stand by the roads and look, and ask for the eternal paths, where the good, old way is; then walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.' But they said, 'We will not walk.'"
(Jeremiah 6:16)
This verse is both beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. When I first read it, I was so struck by the poetic nature of it, that it stayed with me. But over time, it has come back to me at different times for different reasons.
Today it comes back to me as I listen to Mel Torme'.
Uh-huh, you heard me right......Mel Torme'.....aka The Velvet Fog.
I have the Pandora app on my phone and my go-to station is Mel Torme because it has a LOT of old standards on there, which i love: Mel, Frank, Bing, Billie, Ella, and all the rest. There's something in those songs and those voices that just makes me say, "Ahhh.....that feels better" when my day is frantic, hectic, filled with uncertainty, or even when it's lazy, stale, and filled with boredom. There's a connecting thread to the past that this genre brings like no other.
And it's that connecting thread of the past that gives us rest for our souls.
Your soul is comprised of your mind, your will, and your emotions. Music speaks to our emotions like nothing else, and music from the past gives us a sense of stability and peace for several reasons:
- It reminds us of happy moments of our lives, which makes us feel that things will be okay once again
- It speaks to that longing for "community" in our lives; everyone has heard this same stuff at one time or another, so it connects us to people in our past and our present, both in our personal lives and in the life of our nation and the world.
- It puts us on that "eternal path" in that it reminds us that we are just part of a generational journey.
It is in this journey that we need to continue walking and remind our children to do the same. We must try to keep connecting with them and reminding them of the great things of past generations, be it our own memories, or the things that were even before us. It can be music, it can be news stories, it can be God's eternal truths; what are the eternal paths you are walking on and inviting others to explore?
I do not want to be the one who fails to pass the torch and then have my children or grandchildren say, "Nah, we don't wanna walk there"
I am committed to stand by the road, ask for eternal paths, walk in them, find rest, and show the next generation how to do the same. I am committed to telling stories of glory days, telling stories of sad times, hard times, great times, and adventurous times. I am committed to sharing music of my generation and the ones before me. I am committed to sharing memories of historic events. And most of all, I am committed to showing how God's love to mankind can change one woman's path forever and how it can do the same for them.
Today, on September 11th, make sure your children and grandchildren hear your memory of what happened 14 years ago. But also be sure to share beautiful music with them. Share the love of God that has been shared with you.
Make that connecting journey.
Stand by that road.
Walk in the good, old way.
Find rest for your soul as they find rest in theirs as well.
